Cell Phone Hijinks|Not Funny, Worker Says

HOUSTON (CN) – A man’s boss downloaded nude photos of an employee’s fiancée from his cell phone and then showed them around the office, the worker claims in court. Jonathan Bruns and his fiancée sued Deepwater Corrosion Services in Harris County Court. The corporation is the only defendant, though the complaint identifies the boss. Bruns claims a staffing agency assigned him to work for Deepwater and his supervisor Pete Offenhauser gave him permission to recharge his phone on an office outlet. “Unbeknownst to Mr. Bruns, and after he had returned to his usual job duties and responsibilities, Mr. Offenhauser accessed certain private material on Mr. Bruns’ cell phone and displayed the same on his laptop computer, specifically pictures of Mr. Bruns’ fiancée … without any clothing,” the complaint states. “If this egregious invasion of Mr. Bruns’ privacy was not offensive enough, Mr. Offenhauser made an unwarranted public disclosure of the pictures by showing them to other employees and supervisors in his work area. “Mr. Bruns learned of this violation of his privacy when he noticed several people congregating near Mr. Offenhauser’s desk, and he walked over to inquire what might be going on. “He was greeted with laughs and inappropriate comments, not the least of which came from Mr. Offenhauser who stated, ‘it’s a good thing she shaves.'” Bruns says he complained to Deepwater’s HR department, which refused to investigate and fired him “under the pretext of ‘a slow down in work.'” (Graph 10) Even the temp agency, Link Staffing, had no sympathy, Bruns says. He says it told him “he should ‘stop harassing Link’s customers,’ and he would get no more assignments” after he told it about the incident. Bruns and his fiancée seek damages for invasion of privacy. They are represented by Daniel Nelson with Nelson Pursley.